This invention relates to a stacker for a printer and, in particular, to a stacker for paper tickets, vouchers and the like that exit a transaction-based printer. The invention is particularly useful, e.g., in connection with gaming and lottery printers that provide racetrack tickets, lottery tickets or the like.
High speed printers, such as inkjet, thermal, dye sublimation and dot matrix printers are used to provide vouchers, coupons, tickets, receipts and the like to consumers. For example, when a winning lottery prize becomes relatively large, the lines at ticket sales counters become long. In addition, the number of tickets purchased by each person in the line can be relatively large. Heretofore, most point of sales (POS) and other transaction-based printers have been designed to issue one ticket, voucher, coupon or receipt at a time. Sales personnel are therefore required to remove each printed sheet manually from the printer. When a number of lottery or wagering tickets, for example, are purchased in a single transaction, the sales person must compile all of the tickets for that transaction by hand. This can be a time consuming procedure leading to errors being made and long delays in ticket sales.
It would be advantageous to provide an automatic stacking function for printers used in such environments. Such a stacking function would be particularly advantageous for high speed printers that dispense quantities of tickets, vouchers, receipts, coupons and other printed substrates. Such printers are often used in wagering and lottery terminals, as well as in other point of sale terminals such as those used to print train tickets, bus tickets, movie and theater tickets, retail coupons, and other substrates of value.
The present invention provides an automated stacker for a printer having the aforementioned and other advantages.
It is a primary object of the present invention to improve transaction-based printers, such as POS printers, ticket printers, and the like. It is a further object to provide a gaming and lottery printer that will help speed the sale of tickets.
It is a still further object of the present invention to reduce the amount of manual handling required to produce a series of tickets, vouchers, coupons or other printed substrates purchased under one sale transaction.
Another object of the present invention is to provide an automatic stacker for a small transaction-based printer that does not increase the size of the printer.
These and other objects of the present invention are attained by a transaction-based printer that has a first drive for advancing a sheet through the printer in a first direction. A kicker element is adapted to contact the sheet after printing. A second drive is operatively associated with the kicker element for advancing the sheet in a second direction opposite the first direction. An output bin is provided for collecting the sheet when it is advanced in the second direction.
In another embodiment, a sheet drive is provided for advancing sheet material from a spool through a printing station and then registering the sheet in a stationary condition within a cutting station. A cutter, such as a rotary cutter, is mounted within the cutting station. The cutter can include, for example, a stationary blade and a movable blade for severing the registered sheet from the spool. A kicker element (e.g., a kicker wheel) is mounted upon a shaft within the cutting station. A clutch allows the kicker element to freely rotate in one direction as the sheet is forwarded into the cutting station. A drive system that is associated with the cutter control mechanism reverses the direction of rotation of the kicker element once the cutting operation is completed, locking the clutch and thus causing the severed sheet to be kicked into a collecting bin.